I am fairly new at taxidermy (just finishing my 3rd whitetail mount).Any way A friend of mine processes deer & just recently he processed some buffalo & he ended up with a cape which he wants me to mount.I just wandered if it is basicaly the same as the white tail mounting process (do I cut out the skull cap the same?)Any info would be apreaciated.
thanks!
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You really do not have to even cut the skull. You can boil the horns off one at a time off the skull. Most of the forms allow you to just attach the horns ot the form without cutting the skull apart. Also, the skulls are worth some money and it would be a shame to waste them by cutting them apart.
Mounting and tanning is really just like doing a deer, but times ten or more. You will find that it is a job and a half to skin the scalp off and also to thin the inch thick or more hide around the head and neck. You will earn everything you get from doing this project.
Now about cutting the cape, I would not cut up the back at all. Keep the skin tubed and just cut from one horn to the other. After you have worked the skin off the skull, you can just pull it out the hole and not have a big seam to sew. this skin is very thick and tuff. You can skin out most of the whole head threw the mouth clear back to the horns, and then get the rest loose from the hole inbetween the horns.
The only other thing to say is get the skin very thin, but be carfull not th go to deep and cut the hair follicels as they are deep in the skin surface and once damaged can let the hair pull out easy till the hide is dry.
We have done some bison, and did in-house tanning. The first couple weren't bad, but they weren't very big, either. We will NEVER attempt a mature bull again, in house. It took a hoist just to lift it out of the liquids to drain! And the HOURS of combing, etc. All future ones will go to a tannery! Mounting them wasn't the hard part, at least for us! It was the tanning and grooming...
I hope you charge plenty for it.
I live in PA & I am not licensed yet so this will be a freebee.But I will gain some experience at my own expense which I feel is not realy fair but it may be a long time before I would come across another chance at one expecially with no hard feelings if it comes out good or bad **** na * bads not in my vocabulary !
just curious how much is the charge to do a buffallo ?
thanks guys this site is my slow alternative to taxidermy school!
Give or take some, depending on how big it is, whether or not it is a bull or cow, etc...... I personally wouldn't do one for less. I'm sure there are people out there that would, and probably more people that would charge a lot more than that.